New housing units to be environment friendly

Every residence built by the Housing Authority will from now on use energy saving systems that will prevent hundreds of tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.

For every 10 new housing units making use of solar panels, the power stations would produce 132 tonnes less carbon dioxide every year, Housing Authority adviser Vince Buhagiar explained.

Dr Buhagiar said that if photo-voltaic cells were installed on these housing units, producing about 15,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, the atmosphere would be cleaner by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Photo-voltaics can be mounted on the roof or integrated into the building façade. They can be used to provide portions of the buildings electrical load during daylight hours.

Details were issued after Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina said that the authority's units would henceforth incorporate such energy saving features.

These include double glazing, louvres, roof and wall insulation, the construction of water reservoirs and solar panel heaters.

These energy saving systems and equipment could not have come at a better time as the price of oil had shot up, putting a strain on the economies of many nations. Housing Authority chairman Marisa Micallef noted that the block of 10 apartments at tal-Frieh, on the Birkirkara bypass, was a pilot project incorporating such energy savers.

It was too early, however, to say how effective these were and whether it would be possible to incorporate all of the energy conservation methods into any one building. Dr Buhagiar said that once the apartments at tal-Frieh were occupied, the authority would start monitoring the temperature, humidity levels and the consumption of electricity to gauge the level of effectiveness of the energy conservation measures.

He added that research was being carried out to see how rain water conserved in wells could be used to cool buildings in summer.

Efforts will be made to tap EU funds to help with the financing of energy conservation methods.